Gramophone needle holder



Sept. 4, 1934. HYRA GRAMOPHONE NEEDLE HOLDER Filed May 29, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet Sept. 4, 1934. E HYRA 1,972,656

GRAMOPHONE NEEDLE HOLDER Filed May 29', 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 4, 1934 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE GRAMOPHONE NEEDLE HOLDER Vienna, Austria Application May 29, 1933, Serial No. 673,551

In Austria October 15, 1932 13 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for holding needles for gramophones and the like and particularly to such devices of the type in which a magazine adapted to hold a number of needles 'is arranged on the sound box separate from the needle catch and from which the needles are fed one by one to said catch by means of a feed member.

Some modes of carrying out the present invention are illustrated by way of example on the accompanying sheets of drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view, and Fig. 2 a side view partly in section of one construction of a gramophone needle holder.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a needle magazine with part broken away.

Figs. 4 and 5 show on an enlarged scale the needle magazine in front View and side view respectively.

Fig. 6 is a front View of a grarnophone needle holder of modified construction.

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 illustrate a further modified construction of a gramophone needle holder,

Fig. 7 being a side view partly in section, the section being taken on line VIIVII of Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a front view, and Fig. 9 a sectional front view, the section being taken on line IX- IX of Fig. 7.

The needle holder shown in Figs. 1 and 2 consists of a casing 3, which is combined with the sound box 1 and disposed above the needle catch 2 and in which a rotatable disc 4 is mounted. The disc 4 is furnished with an operating handle 6, extending through a slot 5 in the wall of the casing 3, and further with a radially extending slot 7, which in the initial position of the handle coincides with a slot 8 in the casing and in the end position of said handle is disposed opposite the bore of the needle catch. A spring 9, disposed in the casing 3, has the tendency to hold the disc 4 in its initial position, one end of said spring being fixed to said disc while the other end thereof is secured to said casing. A magazine 10, filled with needles, is pushed into a guide 11 of the casing 3 and provided with a sliding lid 12. The magazine is filled with a row of needles and is pushed into the guide 11 with its lid facing the wall of the casing until a stop 13 is reached,'whieh is disposed above the casing-slot 8. Further the casing 3 is provided with a stop 14 for the lid 12-of the magazine, which retains the lid at the edge of the slot 5 already during the sliding in of the magazine and thus opens the latter for the thickness of a needle or the width of the slot 8 until the forward movement of the magazine is stopped by the stop 13. The supply of needles within the magazine is loaded by a spring and thus the first needle is forced 0 into the slot 8 and drops into the radially extending slot 7 of the disc 4 if the latter is disposed in its initial position. Opposite the bore of the needle catch 2, the casing 3 is provided with a discharge port 15 through which drops the new needle from the slot 7 of the disc 4 if the latter has been suitably turned by means of its operating handle 6. The rotation of the disc 4 is interrupted in the moment in which its slot 7 is in alignment with the discharge port 15, this being caused by the co-operation between the handle 6 and the end wall of the slot 5 When the worn needle is to .be replaced, the. clamping screw 16 of the needle catch 2 is opened, so that the needle drops out of the latter. At the same time a tray 17 connected with said clamping screw 16 is turned downward, which after the dropping of the worn needle is disposed below the mouth of the bore of the needle catch 2, the distance between the latter and the tray corresponding approximately to the length of the pointed end of the needle.

In order to spare the needle points, the tray is fork-shaped and its gap is somewhat smaller than the thickness of the needle, so that the latter during its drop through the bore of the needle catch 2 is caught and stopped in the proper position without damaging the needle point.

Now the disc 4 with a needle in its radially disposed slot 7 is turned by means of its operating handle 6 until the said slot is in alignment with the port 15 of the casing 3. The needle drops through the bore of the needle catch 2 until it is stopped by the tray'17' and is fixed in the catch by tightening the clamping screw 16, whereby also the tray 17 is turned into its inoperative position. The disc 4 is returned into its initialposition by the spring 9 Whenever the handle 6 is released and now the next needle located in the slot 8 of the casing drops into the radially disposed slot 7 of the disc, so that feed mechanism is again ready for the next exchange of the needle.

The arrangement may be such that the needl magazine, consisting o'f'the casing the lid, 12 and a weight 44, is providedat its back wall either with a rack 45, number of grooves or'holes and the like,-which are engaged by'the weight 44 resting on the stock of needles. The resilient tongue 46 secures the weight 44 in its position and prevents it from sliding back when reversing the sound box 1, so that the needles are ready 5 for discharge at any time.

engages a stop 23 of the slide 21' and is pivoted i needle.

The bearing surface 47 of the weight 44 is partly or wholly chamfered or otherwise formed in order to force out through the discharge opening of the magazine also the topmost or last needle.

Thus the contents of the needle magazine 10,

which is inthe form of a package ready for sale, can be checked at any time by opening the lid 12 thereof and the magazine is readyfor use in the upright position only, that is in the operative position of the sound box.

Fig. 6 shows by way of example a construction of the needle magazine which renders possible the exchange of needles in the event of an upright needle catch 2. The construction of the needle magazine and the supply of needles to the casing-port is the same as described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, but in this case the tray 17 is dispensed with.

The operating handle is in the form of a push-bolt 18, which is subjected to the action of a spring 20 and is radially guided in the disc 4. One end of this bolt extends into the radially disposed slot 7 of the disc 4, while a knob 19 is secured to the other end of said bolt.

This device operates into the same way as the device described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, however for pushing the needle out of the radially disposed slot, the push-button 19 is pressed towards the casing against the action of its. spring 20 after it has been turned into the vertical position. The push-button 19 is released in the moment in which the needle is fixed in the needle catch 2 by tightening the clamping screw, and now the bolt 18 is withdrawn by the action of its spring 20 and is turned back into the initial position by the spring 9. Now the device again is in its initial position and ready for the next change of the After this change, the sound box can be turned back about its supporting axis.

A further construction of the device according to the present invention is shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings, in which the exchange of needles is carried out quite automatically. In order to attain this object, the disc, which is rotated in the casing 3 by means of the handle 6, controls a mechanism for ejecting the worn needle, a clamping device of the needle catch and the tray 17 for catching the new needle in to a pin 24 of the casing 3. The lever 25 and thus the pin 22 are withdrawn into the inoperative position by a spring 26, secured to said lever and to said casing 3. The other arm of yields to one side and is permanently held by a spring 23 within the range. of movement of a stop 30 of ,the disc 4 extending through a slot 29 in the casing 3. The slide 21 of the pin 22 is mounted on a plate spring 31, which is secured to the casing 3 and partly can be flexed away from the latter, so that during the rotation of the disc 4 the pin 22 rides up a wedgeshaped surface 32 of the disc 4 and thereby moves out of alignment with the bore of the needle catch 2. The radial slot 7, containing the needle, is arranged directly behind this wedge-shaped surface in a thickened part of the disc 4 and is in alignment with the bore of the needle catch at the end of the rotation of the disc 4.

The device for clamping the needle in the needle catch is controlled by a curved groove 33 in the disc 4, which guides positively the pin 34 of a lever 35, rotatably mounted in the casing 3 behind the disc 4. This lever 35 cooperates with a cam-shaped lever 36, which is adapted to rock on a pin 38 within a longitudinal slot 37 of the needle catch 2 and in its clamping position engages the bore of the latter and with its cam-shaped face clamps the needle. Further the cam-shaped lever 36 is provided with a projection 39, which in the clamping position of said lever enters the bore of the needle catch and obstructs the upper part thereof. A spring 40, fixed to the needle catch 2, has the tendency to press the cam-shaped lever 36 into its operative position. When operating the disc 4, the lever 36 is turned out of its operative position by the lever 35 and thus releases the worn needle.

The projection 39 of the cam-shaped lever 36 may be hook-shaped in order to push down the needle into the correct position on the forkshaped tray 17, in case the needle sticks in the bore of the needle catch.

In this case the tray 1'7 consists of a lever pivoted to the casing 3, one end of said lever being in the shape of a forked rest 41, While the other arm thereof extends into the path of two stopping faces 42, 43 on the disc 4. After the ejection of the worn needle, the stopping face 42 of the disc 4 turns the tray 17 so far, that its rest 41 is disposed underneath the bore of the needle catch 2. The other stopping face 43 of the disc 4 rocks back the tray 1'7 into its inoperative position just before the termination of the return movement of the disc 4.

The needle-change is carried out by rotating the disc 4 by means of the handle 6, whereby the lever 35 bearing against the curved groove 33 of the disc 4 is rocked and thereby disengages the cam-shaped lever 36 from the bore of the needle catch 2 against the action of the spring 40, so that the worn needle is released and drops off. Now the clamping device is in the open condition and the stop 30 of the disc 4 strikes against thepawl 27 of the lever 25, whereby the latter moves downward against the action of the spring 26 and thus pushes the pin 22 for a moment into the bore of the needle catch 2, thereby ejecting the worn needle. Whenever the stop 30 slides off the pawl 27, the pin 22 is withdrawn into its initial position by the spring 26 and directly thereafter is forced out of alignment with the needle axis by the wedge-shaped surface 32 of the disc 4. Simultaneously with the withdrawal of the pin 22, the tray 17 is moved underneath the bore of the needle catch 2 by the co-operation between the stopping face 42 of the disc 4 and the arm of the lever 17. At the end of the forward rotation of the ,disc 4 by means of the handle 6, the slot '7 containing the new needle is disposed exactly opposite the bore of the needle catch, so that V the needle drops into the bore by gravitation and is stopped with its pointed end engaging the fork-shaped slot of the tray 17.

When releasing the handle 6, the disc 4 is:

turned back quite automatically by the action of the spring 9, placed in tension during the forward rotation of the disc 4. Thereby the pin 22 leaves the wedge-shaped surface 32 and is forced back into the plane of the needle-axis by the spring 31 of its slide 21. During the progress of the return movement of the disc 4, the stop 30 of the latter co-operates with the pawl 27 without operating the slide 21 of the pin 22 secured by the spring 26, while the curved groove 33 of the disc 4 moves back the lever 35 into its initial position, so that the camshaped lever 36 clamps the new needle in the bore of the needle catch 2 in view of the action of the spring 40. Immediately after the clamping, the tray 17 which heretofore held the needle is rocked by the stopping face 43 of the disc 4 into the inoperative position during the rest of the rotation of said disc and now the sound box is again ready for use. The projection 39 of the cam-shaped lever 36 secures the clamped needle in the bore of the needle catch 2, so

that the sound box 1 firmly rests with its needle on the record.

I claim:

1. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a port in said casing, means for securing a needle magazine to the outside wall of the casing opposite the slot in the front wall of the casing, a member rotatably mounted in said casing, a needle-slot in said member, and means on said member for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port and said slot.

2. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a slot in the side wall of said casing, a port in the casing, means for securing a needle magazine to said casing, a disc rotatably mounted in the casing, a needleslot in said disc, a handle on the disc and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc for returning the disc into its initial position.

3. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a port in said casing, a slot in the front wall of said casing, a guide on the casing, stops on said guide, a needlemagazine with a lid slidably mounted in said guide, a disc rotatably mounted in said casing, a needle-slot in said disc, a handle arranged on the disc and extending out of said casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment withsaid port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc for turning the disc into its initial position in which said needle-slot coincides with said slot in the front wall of the casing.

a. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a port in said casing, a slot in the front wall of said casing, a guide on the casing, stops on said guide, a needlemagazine with a lid slidably mounted in said guide, a toothing on said magazine, a weight in the magazine for burdening the needles therein, a resilient tongue engaging said toothing, a disc -i'otatably mounted in said casing, a needle-slot in said disc, a handle arranged on the latter and extending out of said casing for turning said needle-slot into alignmentwith said port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc for turning the disc into its initial position in which said needle-slot coincides with said slot in the front wall of the casing. l

5. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a port in said casing, a slot in the front wall of said casing, a guide on the casing, stops on said guide, a needlemagazine with a lid slidably mounted in said guide,.a toothing on said magazine, a weight with an inclined bearing face arranged in the magazine for burdening the needles therein, a resilient tongue engaging said toothing, a disc rotatably mounted in said casing, a needle-slot in said disc, a handle arranged on the disc and extending out of said casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc. for turning the disc into its initial position in which said needle-slot coincides with said slot in the front wall of the casing.

6. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a slot in the side wall of said casing, a port in the casing, means for securing a needle magazine to said casing, a disc rotatably mounted in the casing, a needleslot in said disc, a pin slidably arranged in said disc and engaging said needle-slot and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port, and a spring on said pin for withdrawing the pin from said needle-slot.

'7. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a slot in the side wall of said casing, a port in the casing, means for securing a needle magazine to said casing, looking means for the needle underneath said port, an arm secured to said locking means and extending into said casing, a disc rotatably mounted in the casing, a needle-slot in said disc, stops on the disc for co-operating with said arm of the locking means, a handle on said disc and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc for returning the disc into its initial position.

8. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a slot in the side wall of said casing, a port in the casing, means for securing a needle magazine to said casing, locking means for the needle underneath said port, a disc rotatably mounted in said casing, a needle-slot in said disc, a curved operating face on the disc, a control member mounted in said casing and co-operating with said curved face and with said locking means, a handle on said disc and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needle-slot said locking means consisting of a needle catch provided with a bore and with a longitudinal slot a cam-shaped lever pivoted to said catch and playing inits slot, a spring on said catch and having the tendency to press inwards said camshaped lever, and a projection on the latter and extending into said bore, a disc rotatably mounted in said casing, a needle-slot in said disc, a curved operating face on the disc, a control member mounted in said casing and co-operating with said curved face and with said looking means, a handle on said disc and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc for returning the disc into its initial position.

10. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a slot in the side wall of said casing, a port in the casing, means for securing a needle magazine to said casing, locking means for the needle underneath said port, said locking means consisting of a needle catch provided with a bore and with a longitudinal slot a cam-shaped lever pivoted to said catch and playing in its slot, a spring on said catch and having the tendency to press inwards said cam-shaped lever, and a hoolr-shaped projection on the latter and extending into said bore, a disc rotatably mounted in said casing, a needle-slot in said disc, a curved operating face on the disc, a control member mounted in said casing and co-operating with said curved face and with said locking means, a handle on said disc and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needleslot into alignment with said port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc for returning the disc into its initial position.

11. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a slot in the side wall of said casing, a port in the casing, means for securing a needle magazine to said casing, a

disc rotatably mounted in the casing, a needleslot insaid disc, a needle catch underneath said port, a stop on said disc, means in said casing and operated by said stop for ejecting the needle from said needle catch, a handle on the disc and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port, and a spring arranged in aid casing and engaging said disc for returning the disc into its initial position.

12. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the front wall of the casing, a slot in the side wall of said casing, a port in the casing, means for securing a needle magazine to said casing, a disc rotatably mounted in the casing, a needleslot in said disc, a needle-catch with a bore underneath said port, a stop on said disc, a slide in said casing, a pin on said slide and engaging said here, a lever with a pawl pivoted to said casing and co-operating with the stop of said disc, a handle on the latter and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc for returning the disc into its initial position.

l3. Gramophone needle holder for sound boxes comprising in combination a casing, a slot in the side wall of said casing, a port in the casing, means for securing a needle magazine to said casing, a disc rotatably mounted in the casing, a needle-slot in said disc, at needle-catch with a bore underneath said port, a stop on said disc, a slide in said casing, a pin on said slide and engaging said bore, said slide and pin being mounted to be rocked away from said casing, a spring on the latter having the tendency to press said slide onto said casing, a lever with a pawl pivoted to said casing and co-operating with the stop of said disc, a-handle on the disc and extending through said slot in the side wall of the casing for turning said needle-slot into alignment with said port, and a spring arranged in said casing and engaging said disc for returning the disc into its initial position. EMIL HYRA. 

